Pure Vanilla: Irresistible Recipes and Essential Techniques [Hardcover]

Shauna Sever (Author), Leigh Beisch (Photographer)

Book Description

Release date: October 2, 2012

Who says vanilla isn’t sexy? Harvested from the pods of beautiful and exotic orchids, vanilla is a delicious flavor enjoyed by people all over the world. Pure Vanilla celebrates its unique taste with a stunning array of recipes, from cakes and cookies to custards and creams. Indulge in Glazed Vanilla Bean Doughnuts, Vanilla Cloud Cake, and Vanilla Bean Meringue Kisses and Sea Salt Caramels. Cozy up with a bowl of Warm Vanilla Rice Pudding or a steaming mug of Malted White Hot Chocolate. Spread Golden Pear Vanilla Jam on your breakfast pastries or serve up a bowl of the world’s most popular ice cream flavor—all made from scratch
 
With a complete history of vanilla from orchid to extract, Pure Vanilla provides the origins and tasting notes for all of today’s varieties—plus 80 recipes and dozens of photographs. Also included are recipes for Homemade Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Sugar, and Vanilla-Infused Liquors. So step aside, chocolate! It’s time for Pure Vanilla.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“…snappily written homage to the underrated flavor…”—7x7 Magazine

“If only you could lick the pages of this slim, one-subject volume.”—Tampa Bay Times 

About the Author

Shauna Sever is the author of Marshmallow Madness! (Quirk, 2011). She writes the popular dessert blog Piece of Cake and is a host and reporter for food-related television. Her work has been published in O Magazine, Daily Candy, Huffington Post Food, Working Mother, Food52, and more. She also runs Bake Sale Bakery, a dessert catering business in San Francisco, where she lives with her husband and daughter.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Quirk Books (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 159474596X
• ISBN-13: 978-1594745966
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #31,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #17 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Cooking by Ingredient > Herbs, Spices & Condiments
  • #86 in Books > Cookbooks, Food & Wine > Baking > Desserts

More About the Author

Shauna Sever is The Next Door Baker. With her easy, fun and accessible approach to baking and entertaining, she inspires both the pastry proficient and baking-phobic alike to tie their apron strings and head into the kitchen. Whether it's an easy savory tart for a weeknight supper, a birthday cake for the office or a decadent dessert to impress friends at a dinner party, Shauna gives you the know-how to bake up simple, flavorful recipes that are good for the soul and get people talking.

Shauna's passion for baking started at an early age, when she attempted to sell day-glo confections made from doctored cake mix, canned frosting, and copious amounts of food coloring to her third-grade classmates. Needless to say, the business never really took off. But after many years of practice as a self-taught baker (and a stint at San Francisco's famed Tante Marie's Cooking School), Shauna's got it down. With her first cookbook, Marshmallow Madness! from Quirk Books, coming out in February 2012; A second baking cookbook due out Fall 2012; Piece of Cake, a popular food blog named one of the top 50 food blogs by Babble.com; and the launch of Bake Sale Bakery, a small batch baking and dessert catering business, Shauna is matching her skills and her passion to make baking accessible to everyone.

Before pursuing a career in the food biz, Shauna graduated with a degree in Journalism from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. After working as an investigative reporter, a television host and correspondent for the likes of Extra and TV Guide Network, Shauna decided to follow her sweet tooth into the world of baking and desserts. Soon after, she launched her blog and became a recipe writer for a Michelin-starred chef, and continued on as a TV host for food-related segments.

When not writing, baking, or taking care of her husband and their little girl, Shauna can be found hunting for great pastries, kitchen gadgetry and cookbooks and running the hills of San Francisco. She covets bowls that nest, cookbooks old and new, great coffee and well-chilled moderately priced white wine, as well as laughing so hard that no sound comes out and singing loudly to classic rock.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Vanilla. Pure Inspiration October 23, 2012

By Culinary_Cam

Format:Hardcover

I will never underestimate the magic of vanilla again. We use the term 'vanilla' derogatorily, to mean plain, boring, ordinary. How completely misguided! Having spent the last week scraping the caviar out of the beans, infusing syrups, steeping pods, and immersing vanilla in salts and sugars, I see vanilla for the complex, exotic, and intriguing ingredient that it is. And, as Shauna writes, "It's high time to catapult this delicious ingredient into the superstar stratosphere where she so deserves to be!"

Before launching into her original recipes, Shauna encapsulates an almost 400-year history of the vanilla bean into nine points, taking the reader from the Aztecs conquering the Totonac Indians of Mexico in 1519 to Thomas Jefferson, then the U.S. ambassador to France, carrying a bundle of beans home to Monticello in 1789. In 1841 the 12-year-old son of a slave devised a way of hand-pollinating vanilla orchids; his process is still employed today.

She details the various forms of vanilla - yes, you can get it in more than just beans and extracts - provides tasting notes, and fields FAQs: Why is vanilla so expensive? How do I store vanilla? And what is French vanilla?

Her writing is accessible, her directions clear, and her recipes inspiring. I find this book to be pure inspiration. I'm looking forward to trying her Tangy Vanilla Bean Panna Cotta and will certainly be toasting with a Vanilla Martini at some time in the near future.

If you want to learn more about vanilla and get inspired in the kitchen, check out Shauna Sever's Pure Vanilla. It's truly delicious!

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Vanilla Heaven October 16, 2012

By P. Woodland

Format:Hardcover

This is a book that celebrates chocolate's alter-ego. As I have grown older I have come to appreciate the taste of vanilla. Good vanilla. In fact, I keep vanilla beans in my freezer so I always have them on hand. I make my own vanilla extract because it's cheaper and far, far better than the stuff you buy in the store. The only thing this book used that I didn't have on hand was vanilla paste and you can bet your last bean that I'm going to buy some the next time I place my big flour order. I am very intrigued...

For bakers that don't have a ready supply of beans on hand there is a conversion chart so you can still indulge in the delicious recipes using pure vanilla extract which is readily available in stores. Please, PLEASE use PURE extract. The artificial stuff will just ruin a good recipe and when your treat is all about the vanilla you want the flavor to be true. It is worth the money to buy as good as you can afford so that your baked goods sing with real vanilla flavor.

The book is broken down into sensible chapters with recipes therein using all of the vanilla products. Ms. Sever first explains vanilla, its origins and the reasonings behind using each vanilla enhancement. The recipes are well thought out and easy to follow. I can see myself turning to this book over and over again for baked goods to complement chocolate offerings on dessert buffets. It's a great book to add to a baker's cookbook library.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Yum!! March 19, 2013

By Austen Fan

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Twinkie Bundt Cake is the only reason you need to buy this book until you try Vanilla Cloud Cake and Triple Vanilla Pound Cake, Big soft frosted vanilla Sugar Cookies, salted vanilla chip cookies.Okay so you get the picture; I am working my way through the baking chapters and I haven't found a thing to complain about. The recipes are easy to reproduce and the results are flawless. This is a well writen and informative source on everything you ever wanted to know about vanilla.
Thank you Matt from Baked Bakery for the recommendation.